Apparatus for uniting fibrous webs



Nov. 12, 1968 c. eoowm ETAL 3,409,945

APPARATUS FOR UNITING FIBROUS WEBS Filed March 23, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 ill 7 INVENTORS: F Couzv LGOBWIN, FRANK 's. HELMs,

l g: 2 JAMES ARTHUR E RAvFnELb, CHARLES IGREINER,

and FREbERiQ J. HEu BECKY gymwawgw Mm ATTOQNEYS.

Nov. 12, 1968 c. L. eoowm ETAL 3,409,945

APPARATUS FOR UNITING FIBROUS WEBS Filed March 23, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS COLEY L.GObWlN, FRANK S. HELMS, JAMEs ARTHUR F. RAYFIELB,CHAELE$ If. GREI NEE ana? FREDERIC J. HRU BECKY A TTOZA/EYJ United States Patent f 3,409,945 APPARATUS FOR UNITING FIBROUS WEBS Coley L. Godwin, Gastonia, Frank S. Helms, Bessemer City, and James Arthur F. Rayfield, Stanley, N.C.,

Charles J. Greiner, Menasha, Wis., and Frederic J.

Hrubecky, Hendersonville, N.C., assignors to Ideal Industries, Inc., Bessemer City, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina and Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 23, 1966, Ser. No. 536,752 8 Claims. (Ci. 19-288) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for interconnecting a pair of webs to form a wider web by convergingly moving the webs into side-byside abutting relation while subjecting each of the webs to a differential drafting with the distal portions of the webs being subjected to a greater draft than the proximal portions, and thereafter in a continuous operation, subjecting the webs to a differential drafting of the proximal portions of the webs, and wherein the fibers at the proximal portions of the webs are intermingled with each other to unite the webs together.

This invention relates generally to the formation of fibrous sheets or webs of textile fibers and more particularly to an apparatus and method for abuttingly joining the side edges of separate webs of textile fibers to form a single integral wider web therefrom.

As is well known, non-woven fibrous textile webs are today being used in the manufacture of a variety of different types of textile products, some of which are relatively narrow in width, and some of which products are quite wide. This invention is applicable in the forming of any desired width of fibrous web from two separate webs of textile fibers. One of the most important uses of the invention is in the manufacture of unusually Wide webs of textile fibers for facilitating the forming of wide textile products such as non-woven blankets, sheets, etc. As is well known, such products are of substantially greater width than that of the usually webs formed on most existing textile machinery. It can thus be appreciated that the availability of wider non-woven fibrous webs made possible by the instant invention would present many advantages and economies in the production of such wide textile products formed entirely from the wide webs, or in which the wide webs serve as a component thereof.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved method of and apparatus for forming a nonwoven web of textile fibers wherein the proximal edges of side-by-side non-woven fibrous webs are abuttingly joined together in such a manner as to form a single integral wider web therefrom.

According to the present invention, a pair of side-byside non-woven fibrous webs are moved longitudinally, during which the proximal edges of the webs converge into abutting relationship and the fibers of the abutting proximal edges of the webs are intermingled to form a single integral wider web therefrom.

In the manufacture of certain products, such as nonwoven disposable wash cloths, Where it is desirable for manufacturing economies to utilize wide web components which are subsequently to be cut into pieces of the desired sizes, it is also desirable, if not necessary, that the fibers of such web components be highly parallelized. For example, in manufacturing thin non-woven disposable wash cloths it has been proposed to laminate two or more thin non-Woven textile webs of relatively long synthetic Patented Nov. 12, 1968 fibers between a pair of outer absorbent paper webs with all the webs being suitably bonded together. In order to impart high tensile strength and stability to the wash cloths in both longitudinal and transverse directions, the fibers of each textile web are highly parallelized with the fibers of adjacent webs extending in substantially right angular relationship.

Therefore, it is a more specific object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for forming a nonwoven web of textile fibers in which webs of highly parallelized fibers are formed by drafting respective masses of fibers while the webs thus formed are being moved in side-by-side and converging relationship to bring the proximal edges of adjacent webs into abutting relationship, after which the proximal edges are interconnected by intermingling the fibers of both adjacent proximal edges to form an integral single Web of highly parallelized fibers from the previously drafted webs.

It is a further more specific object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus wherein two abnormally wide primary webs are preferably formed by unusually wide drafting units of the drawing frame type preferably utilizing intermeshing fluted drafting rolls, and wherein the primary webs are joined together as they emerge from side-by-side drafting units to form a resultant web having a width substantially equal to the combined Width of the two primary webs and thus forming therefrom an extraordinarily abnormally wide web.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the web joining apparatus of the present invention, illustrating the same in association with the discharge end of a pair of relatively wide drafting units;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 33 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 in FIGURE 3 and illustrating the manner in which the adjacent guide plate sections slope inwardly toward each other; and

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view through the lower or web-reforming guide member, taken substantially along line 55 in FIGURE 2 and showing the downwardly canted relationship of opposite end portions of the web-reforming guide member.

In its preferred embodiment, the web joining apparatus of the present invention generally comprises a forwardly and downwardly curved web supporting guide plate whose rear, upper end is positioned closely adjacent the discharge ends or delivery rolls of a pair of adjacent textile drafting units so as to simultaneously receive from the drafting units a pair of side-by-side primary webs of drafted and preferably highly parallelized, textile fibers. The websupporting guide plate may include a pair of inwardly convergently sloped sections whose upper, outer surfaces are arcuate or convexly curved so the distal or outer edge portions of the primary webs are guided over a greater distance than the corresponding proximal portions thereof as the webs move toward a web-reforming guide member located adjacent the lower end of the web-supporting guide plate. Thus, the outer edge portions of the primary webs are drafted and elongated a predetermined amount as their proximal edges are guide to converge into abutting relationship on the supporting guide plate.

The web-reforming guide member may be in the form of an elongate tube or bar having canted opposite end portions and positioned transversely of the direction of travel of the abutting primary webs and beneath and in engagement with which the webs are pulled by a pair of calender rolls. The elongate web-reforming guide member is arranged to cause the abutting proximal edge portions of the webs to now travel a greater distance than the corresponding outer edge portions of the webs so that they are drafted and elongated as they move from the elongate web-reforming guide member to the calender rolls. The elongation of the inner edge portions of the webs preferably should be about the same as the previous elongation of the outer edge portions of the webs to offset or compensate for the bias initially imparted during the elongation of the outer edge portions. Thus the resultant web is desirably squared as it passes through the calender rolls with the web being of substantial uniform density and the fibers thereof being highly parallelized. Further, as the webs pass through the calender rolls, the abutting edges are compressed by the calender rolls to intermingle the fibers and form a single Wire integral web of textile fibers therefrom.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, as best shown in FIGURE 1 two groups of textile slivers or strands S and S are fed into side-by-side drafting units, broadly indicated at and 10 to form respective spaced apart, side-by-side drafted primary webs Ill, 11'. Each of the drafting units 10, 10' is provided with spaced apart sets of drafting rolls which define drafting zones through which the respective strands S, S pass. As shown in FIG- URE 3, each drafting unit 10, 10' includes a pair of rear drafting rolls 13, a pair of front drafting rolls 14, and pairs of intermediate drafting rolls 15.

The drafting rolls are properly spaced and rotated at the required speed to give the proper draft to and highly parallelize the textile fibers as they pass therethrough to form the webs 11, 11'. Preferably, both the top and bottom drafting rolls of each set are fluted longitudinally thereof so as to crimp the fibers transversely of the webs 11, 11' at closely spaced points longitudinally thereof to increase the tensile strength thereof, and also so that very thin, veil-like webs may be joined without the webs rupturing as they advance through the web-joining apparatus. The sets of drafting rolls of each of the drafting units 10, 10' are suitably driven by gearing in the gear housing 16, 17 (FIGURE 2) to provide the proper rotational speed thereto.

As the drafted webs 11, 11' emerge from the drafting units 10, 10', they are guided onto a web supporting guide plate having curved or arcuate web guide sections 20, 20 which are suitably joined at their inner edges, as at 21 (FIGURES 1 and 2). The curved sections 20, 20' may be suitably supported at their rear or upper ends adjacent the nips of the delivery rolls 14 to receive the webs 11, 11 on a flat substantially horizontal plane. As best shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, the end portions of the arcuate plate sections 20, 20' extend or merge into substantially common planes at the respective points at which the primary Webs 11, 11' first contact and then leave the arcuate plate sections 20, 20'. However, the proximal or inner side portions of arcuate plate sections 20, 20' are formed of substantially greater radius than they are at their distal or outer side edges; i.e., the arcuate sections 20, 20' are of a flatter curvature at their juncture 21 than they are at their distal side edges, and the juncture 21 forms a recess gradually deepening from both ends of the arcuate sections with respect to the distal side edges of the arcuate sections 20, 20'. Therefore, as the sections 20, 20' curve downwardly, they gradually slope inwardly so they are in relatively steep angular relationship at their medial portions, as shown in FIGURE 4 and, from the medial portions down to their lower ends, the sloped relationship of the sections 20, 20 is gradually reduced so that they are collectively substantially straight at their lower ends.

The inwardly sloped sections 20, 20 guide the corresponding webs 11, 11' in engagement therewith toward each other so that the inner or proximal edges of the webs move into abutting engagement as they approach the 4 lower ends of the guide sections 20, 20'. As the webs 11, 11' move down the guide sections 20, 20' a differential draft is imparted to each of the webs so that their outer edge portions travel a greater distance than their inner edge portions and, since the webs 11, 11' are maintained under tension, in a manner to be presently described, the outer edge portions of the webs 11, 11' are elongated 01' tension drafted to a greater extent than the inner edge portions.

As the webs 11, 11 emerge from the drafting units 10, 10', the selvage edges are somewhat ragged and have fibers extending outwardly therefrom. In order to smooth and straighten these selvage edges of the webs 11, 11', upstanding inner selvage guides or pins 25, 25' are supported for adjustment on the guide sections 20, 20' adjacent the inner edges of the webs 11, 511', and outer selvage guides or pins 26, 26 are adjustably supported on the guide plate sections 20, 20' and adjacent the outer selvages of the webs 11, 11'. These guide pins engage the corresponding edges of the webs to straighten the same and accurately determine the overall width of the webs as they move down the guide sections 20, 20 and converge into abutting, side-by-side relationship.

As the webs 11, 11' approach or reach the lower edges of the guide sections 20, 20, they are subjected to a further differential draft by passing beneath and in engagement with a second or Web-reforming guide member 29 in the form of an elongate, transversely extending guide tube or bar having canted opposite end sections 30, 30' which are joined together at the juncture of the webs 11, 11'. The sections 30, 30' extend downwardly and forwardly at an angle from their medial juncture point, relative to the forward direction movement of the webs 1'1, 11' passing from web-reforming guide member 29. As shown in FIGURE 1, the proximal or inner edges of the webs 11, 11 are abuttingly joined, Without overlapping, as they engage the canted guide sections 30, 30'. It is to be noted that the canted guide sections 30, 30 form relatively canted surfaces which meet adjacent the juncture of webs 11, 11 and which diverge downwardly substantially in opposition to the divergence of the first arcuate guide surface 20, 20. Opposite ends of the canted guide sections 30, 30 are supported for adjustment in brackets 31, 31'.

The joined Web, indicated at W, is drawn through a pair of calender rolls 32, 33 which are rotated by any suitable means, such as a chain drive 34 that extends from the driving head 16 of the drafting mechanism. The calender roll 32 is preferably provided with a resilient cover, as shown in FIGURE 3. The calender rolls 32, 33 may be held in resilient pressure engagement by any suitable means, not shown. The speed of the calender rolls 32, 33 is correlated with the speed of rotation of the pairs of front drafting rolls 14 of the drafting units 10, 10' so that the webs 11, 11 and the joined web W formed therefrom are maintained under a slight tension as they move down the guide plate sections 20, 20' and beneath the canted and reforming guide sections 30, 30'.

The line indicating the juncture of the abutting inner edges of the webs 11, 11, although not normally being visible when the joining of the webs is completed, is referred to at 35 in FIGURE 1. The inner edges of webs 11, I l remain in contact with each other as the web W passes from the canted guide sections 30, 30' to the calender rolls 32, 33. As the abutting inner edges 35 pass through the calender rolls 32, 33, the fibers of the two webs are compressed and intermingled by the calender rolls to form a single integral web from the two webs of textile fibers.

As the web W extends from the second guide member 23 to calender rolls 32, 33, the inner edge portions 35 travel a greater distance than the corresponding outer edge portions of web W so that the inner edge portions are elongated or tension drafted. Preferably, the inner edge portions are tension drafted about the same amount as the outer portions of the webs 11, 11' were tension drafted as they moved down the guide sections 20, so that, as the web W passes through the calendering rolls 32, 33, any distortion previously imparted to the webs 11, 11 may be removed throughout the width of the web W This elongating or tension drafting of the inner edge portions of the webs is accomplished by the angular disposition of the canted reforming guide sections 30, 30. As shown in FIGURE 5, the sections 30, 30' are angled forwardly from their juncture, relative to the direction of movement of the web therebeneath, and they are also angled downwardly from their juncture and toward the outer portions of the web W so that the inner edge portions of the webs 11, 11' travel a greater distance than the distance traveled by the corresponding outer edge portions from the time they engage the canted guide sections 30, 30' until they pass through the calendar rolls 32, 32. Elongating the webs 11, 11' during the web-joining process further improves parallelization of the fibers thereof. After the uniformly drafted and integral single web W passes through the calender rolls 3 2, 33 it may be wound onto any suitable lap or roll for later use in the formation of non-woven products, such as non-woven sheets, blankets and the like. The textile web also may be used to form relatively narrow non-woven articles cut therefrom, and may be used as a reinforcing component for disposable, one-time use wash cloths and the like.

As is well known, the distance between the sets of drafting rolls must be varied, in accordance with the length of fibers being drafted, and the distance between the nip of the front drafting rolls 14 (FIGURE 3), and the nip of the next set of rolls rearwardly thereof must be substantially the same as or only slightly greater than the fiber length. Generally, the drafting rolls of a drawing frame are about 1% to 1% inches in diameter. Actually, top and bottom fluted drafting rolls generally have a pitch diameter of no more than about 1.175 inches and the fluted portions or bosses of the rolls are about ten inches long. The maximum width web which it is practical to produce utilizing conventional drafting rolls is therefore about eight to nine inches. If the length of the drafting rolls of the aforementioned diameters was increased materially, the rolls would be deflected or bowed by the fibers being drafted to such extent that a uniformly drafted web could not be obtained.

However, in seeking to obtain an unusually wide drafted fibrous web of synthetic fibers, we found that, if our choice of fiber lengths would permit it, we could increase the length of the flutes of intermeshing fluted drafting rolls up to 64 inches by increasing the pitch diameter thereof to about 2% inches and that such rolls would not deflect to such extent as to adversely affect the uniformity of the web being drafted thereby. Thus, by utilizing abnormally long intermeshing fluted drafting rolls having a fluted length of about 64 inches, and having a pitch diameter of about 2% inches, a drafted web about 60 inches wide was produced from synthetic fibers of about 2 inches average staple length. It is apparent that, in drafting fibers having an average staple length of 2 /2 inches, the nip of the front or delivery rolls must be spaced about 2 /2 inches from the nip of the next preceding set of fluted rolls. Thus, the pitch diameter of the delivery rolls and the next preceding set of rolls could not exceed 2% inches in the drafting of fibers having an average staple length of 2 /2 inches.

Although the abnormally wide drafting unit equipped with abnormallly long fluted drafting rolls of the type last described produced an abnormally wide primary fibrous web, it can be seen that, by joining two such abnormally wide webs together according to the method of this invention, an extraordinarily abnormally wide drafted fibrous web about 120 inches in width may be obtained from textile fibers of as little as 2 inches average staple length. It is contemplated that primary webs of still greater widths may be obtained, provided that the fibers are sufliciently longer to be drafted through the larger diameter rolls which would then be required in order to avoid excessive deflection of the rolls with the increase in length thereof.

In drafting and joining two 60 inch wide webs together, utilizing the apparatus of the present invention, acrylic fibers, for example, having 2 /2 inch average staple length were drafted at each drafting unit 10, 10 and the outer portions of the individual webs were tension drafted 1.007 as they passed over the guide plate sections 20, 20' while the inner portions of these webs were tension drafted 1.003. Then, from the canted guide sections 30, 30' to the calender rolls 32, 33' the joined together inner portions of the webs were tension drafted 1.007 to the calender rolls while the outside portions were tension drafted 1.003 to the calender rolls. In drafting such abnormally Wide webs of about 60 inches wide, it is preferred that the average staple length of the fibers is in the range of about 2 /2 to 3 inches, although longer fibers may be used.

Thus, it can be seen that a very wide and very thin veil-like web of textile drafted fibers may be obtained by joining two or more individual webs in side-by-side relationship. It would not be possible to obtain a thin drafted web of this same width directly from a single drafting section because of the problem of roll deflection that is present with very long drafting rolls. The present invention may be utilized to form drafted webs of different types and blends of fibers and the webs may vary in weight or thickness. For example, the webs may vary from about 77 grains per square yard up to about 437 grains per square yard, and the webs may be formed from synthetic or natural fibers or blends thereof.

While a new and novel preferred apparatus for forming a non-woven fibrous web is disclosed in the present application for carrying out the method of this invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this particular apparatus but includes other devices which may be utilized in moving side-by-side webs of drafted textile fibers longitudinally, guiding the inner edges into abutting relationship and then compressing the abutting inner edges and intermingling the fibers to form a single, wider, integral web therefrom.

Further, although the invention has, for the most part, been described with particular reference to forming unusually wide webs, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is equally applicable in the joining together of webs of normal or narrow widths.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for continuously interconnecting webs of textile fibers to form a wide web therefrom adaptable for use in the manufacture of non-woven textile products, said apparatus comprising;

(a) means for convergingly guiding the proximal edges of a forwardly-moving pair of spaced apart, side-byside, very thin, veil-like webs of staple fibers into abutting relationship while guiding the webs so that the distal portion of each web passes through a greater path of travel than the corresponding proximal portions of the webs,

(b) means for further guiding the webs after being moved into abutting relationship so that the proximal portions of the webs pass through a greater path of travel than the distal portions thereof, and

(c) means for pulling the pair of webs along both of said guiding means and cooperating with said guiding means for differentially drafting the webs as they move along said guiding means and for causing intermingling of the fibers of both of the webs at their proximal edges to interconnect the webs and thus form an integral single wider web therefrom.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said means for pulling and intermingling the fibers of both webs includes a pair of calender rolls for compressing the interconnected webs.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, including means operatively associated with said first recited guiding means and positioned between the moving webs for straightening the proximal edges of each of the webs prior to their proximal edges being guided into abutting relationship.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said first recited guiding means comprises a web-supporting plate having a pair of adjacent, side-by-side, longitudinally convexly curved surfaces adapted for movement of the webs longitudinally thereover in complimentary relationship thereto, the adjacent portions of said surfaces having a lesser longitudinal curvature than the distal portions thereof, and said curved surfaces being transversely sloped inwardly toward each other to thereby define guide surfaces for guiding the distal portions of webs passing thereover through a greater path of travel than the proximal portions of the webs.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second recited guiding means includes a transversely ex tending guide tube having canted sections whose proximal portions meet adjacent the proximal edges of the moving webs, said canted sections being so arranged and sloped that the proximal portions of the webs guided thereby are subjected to greater draft than the distal portions of the webs.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1, including a pair of side-by-side drafting units disposed in close proximity to said first recited guiding means and arranged to form and feed a pair of webs thereto for interconnecting of such webs into a wider web.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, in which said drafting units include intermeshing fluted delivery rolls for imparting crimp to the pair of webs beingdelivered thereby.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6, including means operatively interconnecting in timed relation said drafting units and said means for pulling the pair of webs along both of said guiding means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,055,411 9/1936 Hurst 19--155 2,055,412 9/1936 Hurst et a1. 19155 2,407,548 9/ 1946 Goldman. 2,811,770 11/1957 Young. 3,145,429 8/1964 Resor.

FOREIGN PATENTS 279,962 11/ 1927 Great Britain.

ROBERT R. MACKEY, Primary Examiner. 

